Saroo Brierley

Saroo Brierley (born Sheru Munshi Khan; ) is an Indian-born Australian businessman and author who, at age six, was accidentally separated from his biological family. Brierley was adopted out of India by an Australian couple but was reunited with his original family 25 years later after finding his hometown via Google Earth. His story generated significant international media attention especially in Australia and India.

An autobiographical account of his experiences, A Long Way Home, was published in 2013 in Australia, released internationally in 2014, and adapted into the 2016 Oscar-nominated film Lion, starring Sunny Pawar and Dev Patel as Saroo, David Wenham as his adoptive father, John Brierley, and Nicole Kidman as his adoptive mother, Sue Brierley.

Background Saroo Brierley was born Sheru Munshi Khan, in about 1981, in Ganesh Talai, a suburb within Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh. His mother was a Hindu and his father was a Muslim. His father worked as a building contractor. When Saroo was around three years old, his father abandoned the family after taking a second wife, throwing the family into poverty. His mother, who chose not to petition for a divorce although she legally could have done so, worked in construction to support herself and her children but often did not make enough money to feed them all, and could not afford to send them to school. Saroo and his elder brothers, Guddu and Kallu, began begging at the local railway station and market for food and money, and Saroo was sent by his mother with a bowl to ask neighbours for leftovers. Guddu sometimes obtained odd jobs such as washing dishes in a restaurant and sweeping the floors of train carriages. Saroo and his brothers also resorted to pilfering food from bales of rice and chickpeas at the local railway station as well as unwatched fruit trees and vegetable patches. At one point, Guddu was arrested for violating child labour laws after selling toothbrush and paste kits at the railway station platform, and despite the law being intended to protect children, was imprisoned for a few days.

One evening in or about 1986, Guddu said he was going to ride the train from Khandwa to the city of Burhanpur, to the south, and reluctantly allowed the six-year-old Saroo to join him. By the time the train reached Burhanpur, Saroo was so tired he collapsed onto a seat on the platform. Guddu told his little brother to wait and promised to be back shortly. Guddu did not return, and Saroo eventually became impatient. (Unknown to Saroo, Guddu was killed after falling from a moving train). Saroo noticed a train parked in the station and, thinking his brother was on it, boarded an empty carriage. He found there were no doors to the adjoining carriages. Hoping his brother would come for him, he fell asleep. When he awoke, the train was travelling across an unfamiliar area. Occasionally the train stopped at small stations, but Saroo was unable to open the door to escape. Saroo's rail journey eventually ended at the huge Howrah railway station in Calcutta, West Bengal, and he fled when someone opened the door to his carriage. Saroo did not know it at the time, but he was nearly from his hometown. Saroo originated as a mispronunciation of his given name, Sheru.

He studied business and hospitality at the Australian International Hotel School in Canberra. He relied on his vague memories of the main features around Burhanpur railway station, remembering it as "Berampur", an unfortunately common place name throughout India (page 149). Saroo offered to bring his mother to Australia, but she said she preferred to stay in India, while also noting that Saroo does not speak much Hindi and she does not speak much English, so it would be difficult to communicate if she moved to Australia. She also has cited cultural differences between Australia and India, and has indicated that she prefers living in India.

Saroo has returned to India and visited his biological family over a dozen times. It received six nominations at the 89th Academy Awards, but did not take home any awards. Saroo was portrayed in the film by both newcomer Sunny Pawar and Dev Patel, who was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.

In April 2019, Saroo announced that he is conducting a search for his father, who left him and his family when he was a young child.